Electronic devices often have user-operable switches (e.g., push buttons, pressure-sensitive buttons, turnable knobs, or other types of controls) that may be used to set various functions or control various aspects of the electronic device. For example, a network device, such as a router, may have a user-operable reset button to restart the router (e.g., to clear jammed connections or clear erroneous operations) or to restore factory defaults and clear the user's settings within the router.
There may be certain drawbacks with certain user-operable switches being readily accessible. For example, information technology (IT) personnel within a company may not want a general user of a device within the company to have access to certain switches on the device. The user, using the example above for the router, may attempt to restart the router by pressing the reset button, which may erase the IT department's settings within the router. As another example, a person may illegally attempt to gain access to a network by pressing the router's reset button to restore the factory default settings and then gain access to the network through the router. As a result, there is a need for providing controllable access to one or more switches on an electronic device.
Embodiments of the present invention and their advantages are best understood by referring to the detailed description that follows. It should be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identify like elements illustrated in one or more of the figures.